Chapter 1 The Crash Burn

Ava Monroe sat rigidly in the sleek glass conference room, her hands folded on the polished mahogany table as the murmurs of her colleagues swirled around her. The sunlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Blackwood Enterprises' headquarters, casting long shadows across the room, but Ava barely noticed the warmth. Instead, a cold dread settled in her chest, tightening with every passing second.

She had spent years working toward this moment, every late night, every missed weekend, every sacrifice made for the one promotion that would change everything. The promotion that would validate her worth in a world where women like her had to fight twice as hard to be seen. She had envisioned this meeting hundreds of times in her mind, imagining the nods of approval, the quiet congratulations, the sense of achievement that would finally melt away the loneliness she had buried beneath her ambition.

But today, those hopes were about to be shattered.

The CEO's assistant stepped forward and cleared her throat. "We're ready to announce the new Senior Marketing Manager."

Ava's throat tightened. Her eyes remained fixed on the sleek logo emblazoned on the wall-Blackwood Enterprises-her professional home for the past five years. She had poured her soul into crafting campaigns that turned the company's products into household names, earning accolades from clients and executives alike. This was her moment, she thought..

Then, the CEO himself entered the room, tall and commanding. His presence demanded attention, and Ava's heart thudded erratically. She braced herself for his words, certain they would affirm what she already knew in her bones-that she was the right person for the role.

Instead, his voice rang out clear and decisive.

"We are pleased to announce Ethan Voss as our new Senior Marketing Manager."

Instantly, a ripple of polite applause filled the room. Ava's hands clenched so tightly that her nails bit into her palms. Ethan Voss. The man who had barely been with the company a year, whose ideas were often derivative and uninspired, whose confidence far exceeded his results. The man who had smiled smugly when Ava had walked past him earlier that day.

She blinked, disbelief flickering in her eyes. The air seemed to constrict around her, suffocating and sharp.

"This was a mistake. Surely, it was a mistake," she thought, but the nods from the board members, the congratulatory glances, and the excited whispers made it painfully clear it was not.

Ava swallowed the lump rising in her throat as the weight of humiliation settled heavily on her shoulders upon realizing the truth that her years of tireless work, the sleepless nights, and emotional exhaustion, the countless moments spent proving herself, none of it had been enough.

She wanted to scream, to demand answers, to rip apart the facade of this cruel injustice. But all she could do was sit frozen while the sting of betrayal burned beneath her skin.

Her vision blurred with unshed tears, but she forced herself to maintain a calm exterior. The professional mask she had perfected over the years had to hold. No one could know how deep this cut was.

After the meeting disbanded, Ava found herself alone by the expansive windows overlooking the bustling city below. The noise of the office seemed distant, irrelevant. Her mind raced with the what-ifs and whys.

Why had Ethan been chosen over her? Was it because she was a woman? Too ambitious? Too outspoken? Was it because she didn't smile enough at company dinners or play the political games expertly?

Her thoughts spiraled, dragging her deeper into despair.

Soon, the door behind her opened quietly, and it turned out to be Lila Jameson, Ava's closest friend and confidante since their first day at the company, who stepped inside. Lila's vibrant energy contrasted sharply with Ava's desolation.

Without a word, Lila crossed the room and slipped her arm around Ava's trembling shoulders. "Come on," she said softly, "Let's get out of here."

Ava hesitated, though she knew what Lila meant-drinks, distractions, and forgetting all of this for a while.

But part of her recoiled as drinking meant lowering her guard, admitting defeat, letting the bitterness seep into her veins; she wasn't sure she was ready for that.

Yet, as the weight of the day pressed down, she felt the sharp edge of loneliness slicing through her armor. With a reluctant nod, she allowed herself to be led away from the glass tower that had been both her sanctuary and prison.

And with that, they entered the cool night air of Manhattan's streets, the city lights shimmering like stars trapped in concrete, and the sounds of distant traffic and laughter from nearby bars mingled with the chill wind.

Lila steered them into a bustling lounge filled with music and warmth and everything Ava was not.

With that, she ordered her usual, whiskey neat, and stared into the amber liquid as if it held answers.

Memories of all the sacrifices she had made flickered through her mind. The holidays, the forgotten birthdays, the nights spent alone, staring at her computer screen until her eyes burned. All for this. For what? For a title handed to someone else.

Her jaw clenched as she promised herself, silently yet fiercely, that this moment would not define her. No man, no promotion, no injustice would dictate her worth or her future, and she would rise not because of them, but because of herself.

And just as that resolve began to harden within her, the lounge's door swung open as the room shifted and time slowed, a tall, dark man walked in. His presence commanded every inch of the space, and his eyes smoldered beneath his thick lashes as he moved with the kind of confidence that suggested power and danger intertwined.

Without holding back, their eyes met, and something inside Ava twisted like a mixture of curiosity and something deeper. It was more unsettling as her heart stuttered. And that was the last thing she needed, though she couldn't look away from it.

However, the night stretched ahead, with an unknown and electric feeling, and Ava Monroe remained wounded but unbroken, while she felt the first spark of temptation flicker alive.